Abstract Prompting students to construct multiple solutions for modelling problems
with vague conditions has been found to be an effective way to improve students’
performance on interest-oriented measures. In the current study, we investigated the
influence of this teaching element on students’ performance. To assess the impact of
prompting multiple solutions in mathematics instruction compared with the prompting
of a single solution, we conducted an experimental study with 144 ninth graders from
six German classes from middle track schools. We had two experimental groups: In
one experimental group, students were required to provide two solutions for modelling
problems related to the topic of Pythagoras’ theorem; in the other group, they were
asked to find one solution for each problem. Students’ performance in solving tasks
with and without a connection to the real world was assessed before and after a fivelesson
teaching unit. In addition, the number of solutions developed and students’
experience of competence were assessed with a questionnaire during the teaching unit.
The findings showed that, similar to previous studies, prompting students to find
multiple solutions does not improve their performance directly. However, using path
analysis, we found indirect effects of the treatment on students’ performance via the
number of solutions they developed and their experience of competence.